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Apple Said to Be Working on New Gaming App for iOS
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I miss the treadmill games from a decade ago. easy enough to play on the treadmill, kinda jived with that "funnest ipod ever" marketing. ninjatown trees of doom, the donut games are still around I guess. what else. mega run Redford's adventure. all the mega run games, like monsters run etc...get set games made great games. wish they were still there.
They dont need to alright, but it doesn’t mean they shouldn’t or they don’t want to.
And pretty clearly they want to as they are actively encouraging (and subsidising?) the porting of AAA games to Macs and iOS/iPad lOS and making some of those App Store exclusive.
They are also pretty clearly not succeeding as sales numbers seem poor. I don’t see what’s wrong with people here discussing what they are doing wrong.
I would imagine that the app supplier decides where he wants his app to be displayed. And that that decision would be scrutinized by Apple's approval process.
Yet, Apple has a higher gaming revenue than Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo combined. Apple does not have a "gaming problem". The other companies have a "casual gaming problem". They are stuck with so-called serious gaming, which is a lower revenue business than casual gaming, and requires higher investment.
It's interesting how people have different viewpoints. I love Gamecenter login, and I am always annoyed when a game uses it's own proprietary, usually crappy login systems that I then have to manage passwords for.
But, while I am a fan of iOS casual gaming, I am not a fan of Apple making so much money off of people's gaming addictions.
Quality maybe, but I don't think quantity of games available on iOS is lacking...
Fair enough, let’s make it quantity of games that meet a certain minimum level of quality.
Surprised by all the negative comments. This is something I think Apple should have done ages ago when they had Game Center and has no clue what to do with it.
Move all games completely out of the App Store and into a separate game app (Game Center or Apple Arcade whatever) you want to call it.
The App Store becomes a nicer experience where the top lists aren't just populated by games. It's just apps.
Then in separating the two they could have created separate rules. Most of the App Store money comes from games and In-App purchases. They could for example take a lower cut on App sales than they do on games. Making indie app developers happy. Meanwhile game developer who are ripping people off with pay-to-play apps and all that stuff might be less likely to complain as they are just fleecing people. You could even do something crazy like allow apps to have paid updates for major new releases, while maintaining different rules for the game store.
They could have relented and let Spotify sign people up outside the app, while telling Epic to piss off because the iPhone is a game console.
Maybe too little too late, they should have done this 15 years ago.
Move all games completely out of the App Store and into a separate game app (Game Center or Apple Arcade whatever) you want to call it.
The App Store becomes a nicer experience where the top lists aren't just populated by games. It's just apps.
Then in separating the two they could have created separate rules. Most of the App Store money comes from games and In-App purchases. They could for example take a lower cut on App sales than they do on games. Making indie app developers happy. Meanwhile game developer who are ripping people off with pay-to-play apps and all that stuff might be less likely to complain as they are just fleecing people. You could even do something crazy like allow apps to have paid updates for major new releases, while maintaining different rules for the game store.
They could have relented and let Spotify sign people up outside the app, while telling Epic to piss off because the iPhone is a game console.
Maybe too little too late, they should have done this 15 years ago.
I wouldn't get my hope up, sadly the ad infested cash grabs is where the App Store makes all it's money.
Apple Arcade is just a subscription service like Game Pass. Apple didn't break up any software to make it that way, there's nothing there that is evidence they would break up Mario Odyssey into Mario Run.
There's no reason for Apple to approach gaming like Sony, Nintendo, or Microsoft. There's not even significant evidence that it would make money for them to do so...for Microsoft it's an almost constant waste of money. And as for a Steam Deck, why?
Yes, it is what became Apple Arcade. You do know that games have to be able to run? That someone is recommending those games in the App Store?
AAA games are not flourishing. You can't have a AAA game without a publisher, as that publishing money is what makes it AAA. It has nothing to do with cultural influence - publishers will not take chances with gameplay innovation because it's too risky with a large budget. Then, these half assed clone games come along and a bunch of gamers claim it has to do with something being "woke"...rather than the obvious problem, that the game just sucked to begin with.
Again, claiming Apple "doesn't understand gaming" is lazy. They aren't interested in focusing on gaming, and they've managed to do quite well without it.
I think the metrics I’d look to are critical reception and industry recognition. Apple may indeed have the lion share of casual experiences, but the majority of that is casino games for children and other questionable stuff. Apple won’t push harder into the creative realm where AAA games are because their dopamine-drip addiction apps make them a ton of money. It’s certainly nothing to be proud of though. Because for all their bluster about creatives Apple doesn’t see games as art and they have completely missed the point. The fact that Apple thinks gacha gambling apps are gaming indeed shows they don’t get what gaming is at its core. You’re defining it by the dregs, I define it based on artistic merit. And that’s fine, some folks are content to eat fast food and others enjoy a well-prepared meal from a chef. Apple doesn’t think the chef is any better than the slop. That’s a troubling, institutional blind spot they have to get around or they will never get gaming. When Apple leaves money on the table because children gambling apps are beneath and counter to the corporate standards they talk about in breathless tones, them I’d say we’ve got something. Till then they are little more than smut peddlers
@Chungry A really good summary of Apple's issues here
They sort of inadvertently found themselves in the "Casino ownership business" and are having a hard time building honorable business to displace that revenue -- especially since it's much harder to do
There's so much money in taking advantage of addictions -- it's hard to break away from it once you've tasted it
They sort of inadvertently found themselves in the "Casino ownership business" and are having a hard time building honorable business to displace that revenue -- especially since it's much harder to do
There's so much money in taking advantage of addictions -- it's hard to break away from it once you've tasted it
This is my most anticipated upcoming feature. Been wanting Apple to do something like this and push gamecenter more.